Alamogordo Public Library Advisory Board has three new members

Alamogordo Daily NewsBy Bev Eckman-Onyskow, For the Daily News

Posted:
11/19/2012 11:02:44 PM MST

Click photo to enlarge

New Alamogordo Public Library Advisory Board members, from left, Ashley Valadez, Karen Hutchison and Chris Jones, are welcomed by veteran members Bill Dennis, Pat Trautman, acting chairman and Linda Barker at the November meeting.

The Alamogordo Public Library Advisory Board has three new members, filling recent vacancies. They are Chris Jones of Tularosa and Karen Hutchison and Ashley Valadez, both of Alamogordo.

They joined Pat Trautman, Bill Dennis, Linda Barker and Rita Lake Wirta on the board. Jones and Trautman are county appointees; the others are city appointees.

The mission of the Board, according to the City Ordinance, "is to serve as a liaison between the community and the government," providing a method for the citizens to communicate their needs and wants. The library is funded primarily by the city, with some funding from the county and state.

Acting chairman Trautman welcomed Valadez, the most recent appointee, at the November board meeting. "We're working for the betterment of the library and we are happy to have people volunteer for serving on the board. We appreciate their time and effort," Trautman said.

Valadez has an associate's degree from New Mexico State University-Alamogordo and is working on bachelor's degree in Sociology at NMSU. She has lived in Alamogordo for eight years, initially moving with her mother and stepfather, who was a civilian contractor for the military.

"I joined the Friends of the Library Book Club, and then the Friends of the Library, working with them and getting more involved with the library. I wanted to take the next step so I applied for the library board," Valadez said.

"I'm a reader, the first thing I do is get a library card," she said.

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"The library is the community center, that's where everybody can go to have access to information. I love everything libraries are about."

Hutchison is that comparative rarity, an Alamogordo native. She works at NMSU in Las Cruces.

"I've been involved with the Friends of the Library for several years, so applying for the vacancy on the board was a natural progression," Hutchison said. She is currently membership director for the Friends.

She and Denise Lang were co-producers of "In Our Own Voices," which Connie Breding directed last year at the NMSU-A Rohovec Theater.

Hutchison is also board vice-president of the Southern New Mexico Wellness Alliance, which oversees the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners program in Lincoln and Otero counties.

Jones said he applied because he had heard the board had challenges.

"I like to help people fix things, that's what I do for a living. I want to see the board operate smoothly and get around internal conflicts," he said in a telephone interview.

He works as a network operations manager for Tularosa Basin Telephone Company.

He has a bachelor's degree from Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., with a major in business and a minor in geology.

He has been a New Mexico resident for 36 years and has lived in Tularosa for 16 years.

"I also want to help the library promote itself and increase readership," Jones said. He noted he was pleased that a fines and penalties policy had been put in place, along with a lost-materials policy.

Staffer Bonnie Meagher worked on the projects for several months with the board and the City Commission to get them passed.

"We appreciate Bonnie's efforts, which she put in over a long period of time," Trautman said.

Election of new officers is scheduled to be held at the 4 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 12, board meeting. The public is invited to attend. CENTENNIAL BALL: The event, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, is entitled, "Things Remembered," according to organizer Allen Stenger.

It will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. Friday, Dec. 28, in the library and on the patio on the south lawn, with canopy and heaters if needed.

It is the last official Centennial event in Alamogordo.

Admission is "one good-quality book," Stenger said. "Formal attire is requested, and attire in the style of 1912 is appreciated."

Such clothing is available at Vintage, Inc. on New York Avenue and could possibly be found at local thrift shops.

There will be live chamber, vocal and dance music, and Stella Vita will handle the catering. TOWNSEND LIBRARY: Dr. Sharon Jenkins is the new director of the New Mexico State University-Alamogordo Townsend Library succeeding Dan Kammer, who left with wife Jenna for a position in another state, and Eric Green, her immediate predecessor.

Jenkins has a PhD. from the University of North Texas-Denton in Information Science, which includes Communications, Educational Technology, Library Science, Business Information Systems and Computer Science.

She came from a position as director of library services at New Mexico Junior College in Hobbs.

"I knew the previous (Townsend) directors and they spoke highly of it," she said in a telephone interview last week.

"I'd like to start getting a systematic way of going forward with the collection, buying things that support the academic directions and curriculum for the school," she said.

The Townsend currently has more than 43,000 books, 110 print magazine and journal subscriptions, more than 2,500 videos and 26 desktop computers available.

All Otero County residents are eligible for a free Townsend Library card. "Some of the computers are just for community patrons," Jenkins said.

For more information, call the library at 439-3650. TULAROSA LIBRARY: Tularosa Library Director Randi Northrop said last week she was "thrilled" to report that hers was one of five "New Mexico libraries recognized by the Library Journal as "America's Star Libraries, 2012.' "

The others were Taos, Pueblo of Isleta, Embudo Valley in northern New Mexico and the Eleanor Daggett Memorial Library in Chama.

Overall, there were 262 libraries honored nationwide by the Library Journal.Bev Eckman-Onyskow is an Alamogordo-based freelance writer and immediate past chairman of the Alamogordo Public Library Advisory Board. Email her at beckmanonyskow@aol.com.